Who's That Girl (1987) - Movie Review

Welcome back on Blogger!

Some of you have been requesting this review for a while....well, the day has finally arrived. 

Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for a crazy ride with Nikki Finn!

(Madonna as Nikki Finn)

CREDITS

The film was directed by James Foley and it was released on August 7, 1987. It stars Madonna as Nikki Finn, Griffin Dunne as Loudon Trott, Haviland Morris as Wendy Worthington, John McCartin as Simon Worthington, Bibi Besch as Ms. Worthington, John Mills as Montgomery Bell, Coati Mundi as Raoul, Dennis Burkley as Benny, Robert Swan as Detective Bellson and Drew Pillsbury as Detective Doyle. 

BASIC PLOT

Louden Trott, a soon to be married lawyer, has some duties entrusted to him by his boss and future father-in-law. He has to pick up a puma for an exotic animal activist named Montgomery Bell, then pick up a woman named Nikki Finn, who just got released from prison, and make sure she catches the bus to her hometown.
Nikki tells Louden that four years earlier she had been imprisoned after being wrongly accused of murdering her boyfriend. Now that she's finally free, she wants to catch the actual murderers and discover the truth behind the crime. Louden decides to help her and their crazy adventure begins.

(Madonna and Griffin Dunne 

photographed by Herb Ritts)

REVIEW

The movie

Who's That Girl is an adorable and genuinely funny action comedy. The film manages to turn a standard action plot (the wrongly accused looking for the real bad guys in order to bring out the truth) into an original, insane, entertaining and even heart warming story.
Nikki's hilarious high-pitched voice and extravagant style and attitude, the fiercely cute pumas, the hilarious detectives, Wendy's unbearable obsession with her wedding, Louden's exhilarating swordsmanship, the cops and the bridesmaids all enrich the story with light hearted humor. I also need to mention Nikki's loud scream, the wedding crash and the "knock knock" scene, some of the funniest moments of the movie and the reasons Who's That Girl is one of the best comedies of the 80's. Last but not least, the chemistry between Madonna and Griffin Dunne is worthy of praise.

The music

Who's That Girl also needs to be remembered for its amazing soundtrack. Madonna wrote and produced four great tracks for the movie: Who's That Girl, Causing a Commotion, The Look of Love and Can't Stop. Who's That Girl plays as the movie ends, Causing a Commotion is the opening song, Can't Stop is mostly used during the action scenes and The Look of Love plays when Louden looks for Nikki at night through the streets of New York, after having lost sight of her.
The other songs are equally brilliant, especially 24 Hours by Duncan Faure and Turn It Up by Michael Davidson. Another hilarious track is El Coco Loco, a personal favorite of mine, by Coati Mundi (who plays Raoul in the movie).
The soundtrack album is going to have its own review, don't worry!

Nikki Finn: A portrait

(Madonna as Nikki Finn)

The star of the movie, Nikki Finn is a carefree, extrovert and bizarre young woman with platinum blond hair. Her charisma, crazyness and sense of humor carry the whole film and the fact that Louden is her total opposite not only makes her shine even more but makes him fall in love with her.
Here are five reasons she's the best girl to hang out with:

• She's friends with a puma: She pets it, she feeds it, she whistles and it appears to defend her. Respect! 

• She knows how to take a cab: Don't let others take the cab before you! Scream in their face and get in! 

• She's a versatile actress: She can be your sister, your cousin, your wife, anything you want. Dita, have several seats. 
• She can turn into a total blond bombshell: You have to admit that she was absolutely gorgeous in that white dress. 

• She's a badass: She spent four years in prison for a crime she didn't commit and once released she found the real murderers of her boyfriend and sent them behind bars. Not only that, she also found a new love and basically saved Louden from what would have been a really miserable life with an unfaithful and insane wife and a criminal as father-in-law. Again, respect! 

Let's be honest, who wouldn't want to have her as a friend? 

What about Madonna's acting?

This is maybe one of her best ever acting performances as it showcases her talent as a comedian. Madonna is totally into the character and she's incredibly funny. I feel like she completely forgot she was the biggest popstar in the world and turned into Nikki Finn herself. 

Another thing I appreciate about her performance is how she gives Nikki a Betty Boop, Minnie Mouse and yes, even a Cyndi Lauper kind of vibe. In short, she's cartoonish but in a good way (she's a cartoon at the beginning of the movie after all). 

After Susan, I think Nikki is Madonna's best 80's role. 

Critical and commercial performance

Unfortunately, the movie was critically panned but Madonna and Griffin Dunne's performances were praised. Vincent Canby, who reviewed the movie for The New York Times, wrote: "The actress is funny and never for a minute sentimental. At times she looks amazingly like Marilyn Monroe, but the personality is her own, more resilient and more knowing. As the WASP-y sleeping Prince, Mr. Dunne gives the most stylishly comic performance of a career that's been largely underrated by the public". 

Philip Wuntch of The Dallas Morning News said: "Madonna is great with the one-liners...As a movie star, Madonna may be an acquired taste. But one thing is certain: acquiring this particular taste is going to be an enjoyable experience". 

The movie received five nominations at the 1988 Razzie Awards: Worst Director (Foley) Worst Original Song (El Coco Loco), Worst Screenplay, Worst Picture and of course (are we even surprised?) Worst Actress (Madonna). 

Madonna ended up winning the award. Hollywood truly couldn't wait, could it? 

Commercially, the movie was a box office flop, only grossing $7,3 million on a budget of $17-20 million. 

(Nikki Finn as a cartoon during the opening credits)

In conclusion...

Who's That Girl is one of those "cult" comedies from the 80's that ended up being appreciated decades later. Another good comedy from the same year, Mannequin, has had the same fate. 

I think people at the time failed to take these movies for what they were. Not everything has to be serious and deep like The Color Purple or Platoon, speaking of 80's movies. 

I think that the main purpose of Who's That Girl is to have fun with its audience and, in my opinion, it perfectly accomplishes that. 

"Let your body move to the music"